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Strategic Planning Process

Steering Committee and Process

In spring 2022, the President announced the formation of a Strategic Planning Steering Committee (SPSC) and invited submissions for nomination. The President and Cabinet reviewed applicants and selected committee members guided by a goal of being as inclusive and diverse as possible across the entire campus.

SPSC Representation and Members

The SPSC has the following representation:

  • Representatives from LCAS (Loyola College of Arts & Sciences), the Sellinger School of Business and Management (SSBM), and the School of Education (SoE). These representatives include tenured and  teaching and clinical faculty.
  • Administrative representatives
  • Staff representative
  • Alumni representative
  • Board of Trustee representative
  • Student from SGA representative 

The SPSC is composed of the following individuals:

  • Kerry Boeye, Ph.D., associate professor of visual and performing arts
  • Wendy Bolger, director of the Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
  • Seán Bray, interim vice president for mission
  • Michelle Cheatem, Ed.D., associate vice president for student development
  • Lynne Elkes,  M.B.A, teaching assistant professor of economics
  • Stephanie Flores-Koulish, Ph.D., professor of education specialties
  • Frank Golom, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology
  • Sara Hayward, ’11, alumni representative
  • Alexa Junikiewicz, ’24, Student Government Association representative
  • Matthew Kudler, ’06, MBA ’18, director of advancement communications
  • Kirsten Lichtner-Baase, executive assistant for the Sellinger School of Business and Management
  • Jennifer Louden, M.A. ’17, dean of undergraduate admission
  • Jen Lowry, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and chair of the faculty
  • Michael Mansfield, assistant vice president for financial and auxiliary operations
  • Eric Nichols, vice president for enrollment management, co-chair
  • Paola Pascual-Ferrá, Ph.D., associate professor of communication, co-chair 
  • Michael Puma, incoming dean of undergraduate studies
  • Daniel Rizzo, ’99, trustee
  • Kerry Tan, Ph.D., associate professor of economics
  • Michael Tangrea, Ph.D., ’96, endowed professor of innovation and biology

Ex Officio Members:

  • Terrence Sawyer, president
  • Cheryl Moore-Thomas, provost
  • Gerry Holthaus, chair, board of trustees

The committee is supported by the following individuals:

  • Stephanie Brizee, Ph.D., special advisor to the president 
  • Rita Buettner, director university communications
  • Cyndy Cowles, executive assistant, president's office
  • The Rev. Christopher Duffy, S.J., senior associate vice president for mission, planning, and integration
  • Tracey Frey, assistant vice president for institutional effectiveness and academic assessment 
  • Maureen McCord, executive assistant, enrollment

Roles and Responsibilities

The following defines the roles and responsibilities of individuals and groups across campus for the formation and management of the strategic planning process. The final plan should encapsulate a shared vision that the President is responsible to ensure is enacted for the good of Loyola. The President will work with the Cabinet to ensure the successful completion of the plan. As such, the Cabinet is the final management body for the execution of the strategic plan.

Every Member of the Loyola Community

All members of our community are invited—and encouraged—to participate in the planning process. Although not all input will be directly incorporated into the final strategic plan, all input is valuable to the process. Most importantly, all members of the community will be involved in bringing the plan to life as we collaborate to strengthen and advance Loyola University Maryland for generations to come.

Strategic Planning Steering Committee Co-Chairs

The SPSC co-chairs will lead the committee and provide overall guidance to the process. They will call the meetings, establish the agenda, coordinate the members, and ultimately are responsible for ensuring the creation of a final plan that is focused and achievable within an agreed upon timeframe.

Strategic Planning Steering Committee

The SPSC is responsible for managing the strategic planning process from start to finish and for producing the final product. Specifically, they are responsible for:

  • Planning and hosting all feedback and data collection sessions
  • Planning and working with the Office of Marketing and Communications to ensure active communication with the community (establishing the website, sending out emails, guiding branding process, etc.)
  • Creating and sending out surveys
  • Collecting and reviewing data 
  • Accepting nominations for forming smaller working groups once themes are established
  • Overseeing working groups and ensuring they produce recommended objectives that are clear, achievable, and meet the overall goals of the plan
  • Communicating with constituents and community  
  • Ensuring a transparent and fair process

Strategic Planning Steering Committee Support

Members from the President’s Office, Marketing and Communications, Academic Affairs, the Cabinet, and Enrollment are providing advisory, coordination, and logistical support to the co-chairs and committee. Their role is to help ensure this process is as smooth as possible and is seamlessly integrated into existing support mechanisms of the University. 

Loyola Conference

As part of its charge, the Loyola Conference monitors progress on strategic planning and progress toward the University’s mission and goals. The SPSC co-chairs will keep the Loyola Conference apprised of developments throughout the process and will ensure their feedback and input has been properly accounted for in the process.  

President and Cabinet

The President and Cabinet will provide high-level direction for the strategic plan. They will receive frequent updates from the Strategic Planning Steering Committee Co-Chairs and the Strategic Planning Coordinator as the process is occurring and the plan is evolving. The Cabinet will function as the final manager of the plan once it has been approved.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees have the final approval over the plan and will work with the President to ensure it is enacted successfully.

Charge to the Strategic Planning Steering Committee

The SPSC is charged with consulting and forming partnerships with representatives from our students, faculty, staff, Board of Trustees, alumni, parents, community partners and other stakeholders to help craft the vision and direction of the next strategic plan for Loyola. The committee is further charged with formulating a draft of Loyola’s next strategic plan, following the process laid out in the Strategic Planning Guidebook.

The plan should anticipate the overall strategic direction of the University through 2030. A draft of the plan should be completed by fall 2023 to be shared with campus constituencies. After review and refinement, a final draft should be ready to be presented to the President for approval in December of 2023 and then to the Board of Trustees for their approval at the February 2024 Board meeting.

The strategic plan should consider and address the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing Loyola and higher education. During spring 2022, the President spent time with many different constituencies. He also participated in SWOT analyses with the Cabinet and the Board of Trustees. From these exercises the President offered the SPSC four thematic areas that he sees as important to Loyola’s future. He asked us to consider the following:

  1. How can we improve our commitment to DEI, student success, and wellbeing?
  2. How can our Jesuit values, specifically engaged learning and academic excellence, be realized in a way that sets us apart from the other 28 schools in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU)?
  3. How can the Universal Apostolic Preferences, and specifically caring for our common home, be more fully embraced?
  4. How can employment issues specific to higher education be innovatively addressed, making Loyola a place where people feel valued and love to work?

At the end of Summer 2022, the SPSC engaged in the same SWOT analysis process that will be implemented as part of the Community Engagement Sessions during Fall 2022.  The SPSC will schedule and convene these sessions, analyze the community’s feedback, and extract common themes and ideas that will help form a strategic plan that is aspirational and actionable within the timeframe and resources available.